White, Blue, Turqouise

In May 2008, I was on a ship sailing on the North Sea for an excursion with my classmates in UMD4 and ICHUD to Neeltje Jans to see the largest delta project in Holland. It was cool enough... I think.... but not as cool as the trips I had back in Bangka Belitung... :D
Many of us really really enjoyed the sessions on board...(taking pictures, sat on the deck, seeing the sea...:), especially those who lived in landlocked countries. Me? I enjoyed seeing my friends enjoying the trip..:) To be honest... the view was not attractive at all...for me...... off course. Was I alone feeling that? No I was not... A friend of mine from Maldives felt the same way. Come on... Maldives and Bangka Belitung compare to North Sea, for me and my Maldivian friend.... It's like comparing Angelina Jolie or Jennifer Anniston to Mrs.Doubtfire... :)

Off course the excursion was great.... the Delta park was entertaining... and the delta work was awesome... and after visiting the Oosterscheldekering, we also went to Kinderdijk. But the North Sea it self.... was not so "alluring" for me who lives surrounded by beautiful sea decorated with soft white sand, granite boulders and beautiful isles.... So, I and my Maldivian friend ended up laughing together seeing the blurry water and plain scenery...reminding me of "the wood" in Holland.... (which I bet, my friends from Kalimantan would call it "bushes"...:)
Anyway.. about 2 months ago, I was assigned to a business trip to Seychelles....(my first business trip abroad) I admitted that I only knew the name of 'Seychelles" about a year ago, when my office got the invitation from the Honorary Consul general of the country to attend the international carnival there. The honorable said that Belitung, and Bangka, just have the same view with Seychelles. I believed that they have the white sandy beaches and the granite boulders just like what i saw on the books and websites. But I never expect that it's not only the beaches, but I also found lots of similar plants, and the form of houses there.... I got surprised when I got there. Well, off course i had expected similarities between Seychelles and Bangka belitung... but I didn't expect that the similarity would be that big.. I even said that 'When seeing our photos here, no body in Bangka Belitung would believe that we are abroad now...". My Boss also said that, the ministers there who read the leaflet we brought there were also amazed, the GM of the resort we stayed in there also said: "This is Seychelles" when seeing the pictures of white sandy beaches and granite boulders of Bangka Belitung on the leaflets...:)
A friend of mine who lives in Germany said that, going to Seychelles, for Germans, is not only about "vacation", but also about prestige... They don't mind spending lots of money for that...
However, I also found out that Seychelles is far better in managing the environment. And I also like the fact that in Seychelles, there is no private beach.... all beaches there are public. Tourists are not allowed to pick the sea shells or clamps, dead or alive... As for the culture...Hmmm... I think we here are far richer..:)

Well, I actually forget the reason why I write this post at the first place.... :P