Last weekend, I was lucky enough to visit Salzburg (Salt Fortress) in Austria. The city of Salzburg is nestled between two mountains Kapuzinerberg and Mönchsberg and the River Salzach. It is a picturesque city with small alleyways, quaint colorful town houses, castles and palaces, with beautiful gardens and a large number of churches (41 Catholic Churches and only one Protestant church) and monasteries (incl. Nonnberg Abbey). Salzburg is most certainly a city of music. It was the home and birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Doppler, and the famous ‘ Von Trapp’ family which was in 1965 adapted to a movie ‘Sound of Music’ - the movie which is very well-known in the world except in Europe or among Salzburgers!

Everything is easy to get to. Most everything is in walking distance of the city center. Salzburg has a certain charm that other European cities don’t have. I definitely recommend it. You can see all of the major sites and still have a nice enjoyable place to relax. It has an amazing view of the mountains and the river that runs through town.

Aside from more than 50 places to visit within Salzburg (use Salzburg Card!), several places to recommend around Salzburg:

• Hellbrunschloss, a palace with many surprises which can definitely make you ‘wet’!

• Schloss Leopoldskron, a rococo palacer with a nice little lake

• Eisenrisenwelt, the largest ice-cave in Europe with stunning view from the Alps and aerial view of Hohenwerfenschloss – less than an hour drive from Salzburg in the city of Werfen. Requires about 30 minutes of walking and hiking to the cave. Do not forget to bring warm-clothes! Near-zero-degrees inside the cave while outside can be >30′C!

• Untersberg, a mountain with full of fairy tales from wizards to dwarfs from in 2000m above sea level with also a great view of Salzburger land and Bavaria

There are also many music street performances all day especially during Salzburg Festival! During the late evening, I was treated with a family of musicians (with the spirit of Von Trapp Family) called ‘The Balzats‘ from New Zealand (watch them here).

I will be returning for a second visit!

Banyak orang merasa hidup di luar negeri itu enaknya bukan main, mulai dari gaji besar dan hidup yang nyaman. Mereka tidak melihat bahwa hidup di luar negeri sebetulnya jauh lebih keras dibandingkan di dalam negeri (baca: Indonesia). Saya meninggalkan Indonesia tahun 2004 dan kembali sebentar tahun 2005, 2007, dan 2009. Apa yang saya lihat adalah kehidupan foya-foya yang akhirnya membuat saya mengalami ‘culture shock’ dan inilah yang membuat saya ‘malas’ untuk kembali ke Indonesia.

Di lain pihak, satu hal yang membuat saya berat untuk meninggalkan Indonesia adalah keluarga. Kita harus mengakui, sejelek-jeleknya keluarga kita, mereka masih keluarga kita. Anda bisa bayangkan seberapa sedihnya seorang anak bila mendengar salah satu kerabat apalagi orang tuanya sakit – begitu pula sebaliknya.

Bila saya tinggal di Singapura atau Malaysia mungkin tidaklah begitu bermasalah tapi tinggal di Eropa atau Amerika yang jarak tempuh kembali ke rumah minimal 18 jam tentu menjadi ‘concern’ tersendiri. Skype, facebook, or telepon sudah banyak membantu tetapi semuanya itu tidak bisa menggantikan arti sebuah pelukan.

‘Yah, tidak usah tinggal di luar negeri dong!’. ‘Well, I am fully aware that this is the consequence…’ Sometimes I wish we could teleport anywhere in a blink. Oh, Doraemon, pinjam ‘Pintu Kemana Saja!!!’

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Many people feel that living abroad is absurdly sweet, from big salary and a comfortable life. They do not see that life abroad is actually much harder than in the country (read: Indonesia). I left Indonesia in 2004 and came back for a short time in 2005, 2007, and 2009. What I see now is a hedonistic lifestyle that made experiencing ’culture shock’ in my own country and this is what makes me ‘reluctant’ to return to Indonesia.

On the other hand, the one thing that makes me hard to leave Indonesia is my family. We must admit, no matter how bad our families are, they are still our family. You can imagine how sad sons and daughters when they hear that one relative is ill or worse their parents (- and vice versa).

If I lived in Malaysia or Singapore perhaps it would not be so problematic, but staying in Europe or the United States which home mileage of at least 18 hours would be a ‘concern’ of its own. Skype, Facebook, or phone has been quite helpful but it was not able to replace a hug.

‘Then, don’t live abroad!’. ’Well, I am fully aware That this is the consequence …’Sometimes I wish I could teleport anywhere in a blink like in Star Trek. Oh, Doraemon, lend me ‘Anywhere door! Please please please…”

The clip says all what I think :)

Now, why are we here?

After two world wars, the collapse of fascism, nazism, communism and colonialism and the end of the cold war, humanity has entered a new phase of its history… and this morning my ceiling collapsed from Scottish weather….