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Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Dari Korea ke Inggris Naik Kereta

Minggu lalu gue jalan-jalan ke pinggir Seoul, tepatnya Gwangmyeong. Saat gue nunggu bis, gue liat iklan ini dan gue pun mendekat dan mikir, "Wait ini beneran kah???"

Taglinenya berkata "Stasiun antar benua untuk keberangkatan ke Eurasia - Stasiun KTX Gwangmyeong". Sub-taglinenya "The cuting edge of Semenanjung Korea, titik logistik spesial"
Lengkap juga disertai dengan peta yang intinya dari Gwangmyeong, bisa ke Beijing, terus nyambung ke Rusia sampe Moskow, terus lanjut Berlin, Paris dan bisa ke London.


Gue tau Stasiun Gwangmyeong emang besar dan dilewati KTX. Tapi nyambung Eurasia, really? Sampe London, beneran? Kenapa ga pernah denger? Apa karena gue udah setaun gak main ke Gwangmyeong?

Tapi siapa juga yang mau ke Gwangmyeong kalo gak ke IKEA... Anyway saat gue turun bus dan mau nyebrang ke IKEA, gue liat iklan yang sama dan bahkan lebih besar. Gue pun mulai berpikir, "Wah agresif banget nih marketingnya"

Beruntungnya hari itu gue memutuskan untuk pulang lewat Stasiun Gwangmyeong. Gue pun memberanikan diri untuk bertanya (setelah didorong-dorong Elaine) ke mbak di pusat informasi. Jawabannya, "Wah maaf. Ini belum ada. Masih dalam proses perencanaan"
"Kira-kira emang adanya kapan?"
"Kalo itu kurang tau, sekarang ini masih dalam tahap pembicaraan di pemerintah."

Gue. Kesel. Sambil. Bingung.

Eh tapi saat mau ke arah platform subway, ada lounge khusus yang didedikasikan untuk si KTX Eurasia ini. What?!

Tanpa diminta, Elaine masuk dan nanya sama tante yang jaga. Tante yang jaga punya penjelasan serupa tapi lebih informatif.
"Ini emang lagi diwacanakan sama Perusahaan X dan pemerintah. Tapi sayang, sampe sekarang pun jalur ke Korea Utara kan belum kebuka. Tau sendiri kan sekarang hubungannya lagi menegang. Kalau kebuka, pasti bisa lebih cepat dan menguntungkan kedua belah pihak."
"Oh gitu. Tadi saya liat iklan dimana-mana makanya saya jadi penasaran sambil mikir, ada ya?"
"Iya, pemerintah berpikir kalau banyak iklan dan banyak masyarakat yang ingin tahu, bukankah nanti bisa membuat jalur ini terwujud lebih cepat lagi? Ada minat dengan isu ini?"

Wah ternyata politik juga. Jujur gue bingung, masih tahap perencanaan udah sewow ini. Seakan-akan mau bikin jembatan Jawa-Sumatera terus iklannya udah dari Lampung sampe Bogor, tapi ternyata jawabannya "Maaf, ini sebenernya masih dibahas di DPR. Cuma biar banyak yang kepo, jadi diiklanin gede-gedean, manatau bisa kasih pressure biar lebih cepet jadi."

Gue salut dengan approachnya. Mungkin kalau berhasil bisa ditiru, tapi untuk sementara jangan ketipu dulu. Ditunggu, ke Beijing naik kereta!
(Mau bilang London tapi kejauhan ah, naik pesawat aja capek)

IKLAN: LIAT #alirajalanjalan ke SMA di Korea, Gwangmyeong dan Hangang disini ya!

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Best Grilled Fish in Hanoi

I went to Hanoi, Vietnam to visit one of my closest friends, Ha. I have been to many places and wandered around with locals in the city but I would say Ha knows the best of her hometown. We were able to explore Hanoi on her Vespa, without GPS. Well, I would be able to do the same in my own hometown but what makes Ha a waaaay more amazing than all my local guides is that she knows literally every road (or alley) in the city and the best food in town!

I was there only for four days, how hard can it be for my host to serve me the best delicacies in town, right?

Well, it is pretty challenging because I do not eat meat, only poultry and seafood. But this is no challenge to Ha, as she kept feeding me BEST food while I was there.

Out of so many, the 'Cha Ca' grilled fish is one of my favorite.

FIIIIISH
It came pre-cooked like this. Served with plenty of green and condiments, it tastes supeeeer fresh.

We are in Southeast Asia but no, you do not eat this thing with rice but noodle.

yay noodle!
I have no idea what is this white noodle called in English or Vietnamese, but yeah. It was a very smart combination.Oh, I did not get to take picture of the phenomenal fish paste sauce but it was really good. They also give you chilli so you can create your own spicy sauce.

Cooked Cha Ca!
Ha said this dish actually was first served in a road called cha ca (my memory is not that good with Vietnamese words). The original place is rather old and small. We did not go to the original restaurant but the other one, located at 19-21-31 Duong Thanh, Hanoi. This place is very spacy and they only serve one dish. You can order fish intestines after your meal. Ha did order it but I rejected the idea since... I am not sure how would I like it (or I'd just probably hate it).

Only VND 120,000 per person (would not be cheap for Hanoi standard)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.